How to Build a Killer Sim Racing Setup

For anyone dipping their toes into sim racing, this is a fantastic starting point. Logitech has been making racing wheels and pedals for decades and has developed a solid reputation as being both reliable and affordable. Despite being our budget pick, the G29 boasts high-end features like 900-degree rotation (similar to a real car) and adjustable pedals that allow you to fine-tune your experience.

The G29 is specific to PlayStation consoles, but Logitech also sells the G920, which is compatible with Xbox and PC games.

Thrustmaster's 488 Challenge wheel brings the feel of Maranello's finest into your home with a 9/10-scale replica of the hand-stitched Alcantara material you'd get in a real 488. In terms of functionality, it features a sequential LED tachometer, along with a powerful brushless motor that has been designed to hold up to hours of extended use.

Thrustmaster seems to have nailed solid, affordable components to build a complete sim rig. This pedal set has a weighted base to keep them nicely planted while you kick the clutch and heel-toe shift. The brake pedal features four pressure modes which allow you to dial in the feel you prefer, and the metal pedal heads look pretty sharp.

From Logitech's Pro series, these pedals are so carefully thought out and well constructed that you may miss them when you hop back into your actual car. They are highly adjustable with horizontally adjustable pedals and feature load cell braking for more accurate inputs.

This all-metal shifter converts from a gated seven-speed to a sequential +/- shifter in seconds. Contactless magnets mean they won't lose precision over time. It attaches via a C-clamp to tables, desks, or shelves, and should be compatible with most steering wheels on Xbox, PS4, or PC. Coolest of all, you can replace the generic knob with a real one from you favorite car, so long as it uses the universal thread width.

While it may not be as pretty to look at as the Thrustmaster shifter, GSTP has provided a solid alternative, and it includes a handbrake. It's mainly constructed from metal, so it should be durable. It's plug-and-play with compatible steering wheels, and the shift knob can be swapped out to a piece of your liking.

Built for precision racing and long-lasting reliability, this shifter has built-in clamps and bolt points that allow it to be mounted to a table, desk, or racing rig. A full leather shift knob and boot complete the deceptively affordable package. If you want an affordable but quality shifter for your rig, you've found it. Just be aware that this only works with Logitech steering wheels.

This monitor from MSI is an affordable way to get some specs you need for a fluid gaming experience. With a 21:9 aspect ratio, a 200-Hz refresh rate, and a high-resolution 30-inch screen, it more than gets the job done.

This gorgeous curved monitor provides less distortion and a more immersive expense than its traditional flat counterpart, which is exactly what you want in a good sim setup. With a 240-Hz refresh rate, Quantum Matrix technology, and G Sync compatibility, it's also a powerhouse.

This Skytech has all the specs to get you up and running—and racing. It features an 8GB graphics card as well as 8GB of RAM, an INTEL Core i5 processor, and three cool-looking LED cooling fans which you can see thanks to its tempered glass case. It's not going to run games at the highest visual settings, but it should be more than enough to get started.

This may be a bit overkill for all but the most serious gamers. But if you want the best sim racing setup, you're going to want to exceed what's simply sufficient. Just check out the specs: an AMD Ryzen 9 5900 CPU, 32GB of RAM, 1TB SDD storage plus 2TB HDD storage, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU with 10GB GDDR6X memory.

This cockpit is great if you're new to sim racing and would like to take a shot at building a solid setup that doesn't break the bank. It features a built-in seat made from breathable fabric and adjustable mounting points for your wheel, gear shifters, and pedals. This seat is also a great option for anyone who may not have space to dedicate to a permanent setup, as it's foldable for easy storage.

This cockpit is produced by the same manufacturer as our budget pick but is a considerable step up in just about every way. Its aluminum construction is much more robust than the entry-level cockpit, and it takes adjustability to another level. It also features a haptic transducer for added feel, cable management clips for all of your wiring, and a 12-month subscription to the sim racing platform iRacing.